I. Overview

In 2007, Karnataka witnessed serious
human rights violations against members of tribal groups. Between August and
September 2007, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) received 100
complaints as of 21 September 2007 and called for reports from the authorities
in 40 cases. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) received eight cases
of deaths in police custody and six cases of encounter deaths between 1 April
2006 to 31 March 2007.

The
Karnataka State Human Rights Commission opened on 25 July 2007 after
appointment of Justice S R Nayak as its first Chairperson. Though the SHRC was
established in 2005, it could not function due to lack of members, resources, office
space, funds
and staff. In June 2005, before the commission came into being, the government
had sanctioned 53 posts but only six persons reported for duty as of 21
September 2007. On 6 September 2007, Justice S R Nayak appealed to the state
government to provide a separate building for the commission and more staff. He
stated that the commission needed 160 staff members, including 42 personal
staff, 58 administrative staff, 59 legal staff and 101 staff for the
investigation wing.

The Judiciary was also hampered by
delay. A total of 1,04,237 cases were pending with the Karnataka High Court and
another 10,95,705 cases were pending with the District and Subordinate Courts
in the state as on 30 September 2007. As on 1 January 2008, there were six
vacancies of judges in the Karnataka High Court. There were 217 vacancies of
judges in the District and Subordinate Courts in the state as on 30 September
2007.

Human rights defenders faced
harassment. On 8 March 2007, Dalit activist Mr Vasanth was arrested when he
went to the Madikeri Town police station in Karnataka to seek information regarding
a case of torture. He was assaulted by five policemen in custody in Madikeri
Town police station and then shifted to Madikeri District jail. He was released
on bail.

Apart from receiving complaints of eight
cases of deaths in police custody and six cases of encounter deaths during 1
April 2006 – 31 March 2007, the NHRC also registered seven cases of illegal
arrest, two cases of unlawful detention, nine cases of false implication of
innocent persons, and 92 cases of “other police excesses” in Karnataka during
2006-2007.

On 6 March 2007, Yamanappa Devappa
Jalhalli was allegedly tortured in custody by Surpur Circle Inspector S B
Kattimni, Sub-Inspector Malappa Bidari and Constable T Ramulu at Surpur town in
Gulbarga district. The policemen reportedly burnt Yamanappa’s genitals, back
and chest. Jalhalli was taken into custody by the police after receiving a complaint
that he was drunk and disorderly.

On 16
December 2007, Maqsood
Shareef, a resident of Kondappa Badavane under Yelahanka police station in Bangalore,
was allegedly tortured to death in the custody of Kengeri police station in
Bangalore. He died at Jayadeva
Hospital, Bangalore a few hours after he was taken into custody by the police.

In a few cases, the judiciary
intervened. In July 2007, the Karnataka High Court asked the state government
to pay compensation in two custodial death cases. On 3 July 2007, the Court
directed the state government to pay Rs. 300,000 as compensation for the
custodial death of Basappa Kuri in Dharwad in 2002. Again on 11 July 2007, the
Court asked the state government to pay compensation of Rs. 250000 for the
custodial death of one Dhananjaya of Bangalore at the Gnanabharati police
station in 2004.

According
to the National Crime Records Bureau of the Ministry of Home Affairs of
Government of India, 214 cases of atrocities against tribals were reported from
Karnataka in 2006. These included four cases of killing, seven cases of rape
and 117 cases registered under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act of 1989,
among others.

The rate of filing charge-sheet for
crimes committed against tribals was 95.7% during 2006 but the conviction rate
was only 4%. Out of total 259 cases in which trials were completed, only in 10
cases the accused were convicted and in other 240 cases the accused were
acquitted.

The
conditions of displaced tribals who now live in forest areas are deplorable. In
August 2007, the Adivasi Mulabhuta Hakkugala Horata Samiti alleged that the
Forest Department officials were making the lives of the tribals living in the
“hadis” (tribal settlements) inside the Nagarahole National Park in Karnataka
miserable by restricting their movement and lodging of false cases against
them. The tribals were repeatedly booked for growing paddy, ginger, vegetables
and coffee in and around their habitations in the forests and transporting them
outside the forests to sell them to earn their livelihood.

In December 2006, nearly 78 tribal
families were evicted from the Saragodu Reserve Forest in Chikmagalur district
on the direction of the Supreme Court who termed the tribals as “encroachers”.
After their eviction, the tribal IDPs were asked by the government to fend for
themselves. The State government
promised to provide to each family two acres of land, Rs 50,000 for a
girl who had attained marriageable age and money for construction of house but
as of 19 February 2007 the evicted
tribals were given nothing. Earlier in January 2006, the tribal people
petitioned to the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission
for the Scheduled Tribes against the eviction notice. The tribals rejected the government’s
resettlement package as it did not include the names of several families who
were in the voters' list as well as in school documents. The tribals demanded
that the resettlement package be converted into a development package and the
lands being cultivated by tribals in the Saragodu Reserve Forests should be
regularised.

The state government failed to prevent further alienation of the lands of
tribal people. According
to the Annual Report 2007-08 of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government
of India, a total of 42,582 cases alleging alienation of 130,373 acres of land
have been filed in the court in Karnataka. The courts disposed off 38,521 cases
out of which 21,834 cases involving 67,862 acres of land have been decided in
favor of tribals and 16,687 cases involving 47,159 acre of land have been
rejected. About 4,061 cases were pending in the court.

According
to the National Crime Records Bureau of the Ministry of Home Affairs, 1,730
cases of atrocities were reported against Scheduled Castes in 2006 in Karnataka.
These included 28 cases of killing, 27 cases of rape, four cases of
abduction/kidnapping, 25 cases registered under the Protection of Civil Rights
Act and 1,051 cases registered under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act of
1989.

The rate of filing charge-sheets for
crimes committed against the Dalits was 92.3% during 2006 but the conviction
rate was only 2.3%. Out of total 1519 cases in which trials were completed,
only in 35 cases the accused were convicted and in other 1484 cases the accused
were acquitted. Mr Nehru C. Olekar, the chairperson of the Karnataka State
Commission for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes stated on 3 July
2007 that the accused in 98% of cases involving violations of human rights of
the Dalits were allowed to go free as witnesses in most cases did not turn up
for fear of being attacked by the upper castes.

Dalits were targeted for accessing
public places. On 13 April 2007, upper caste Hindus attacked Dalits at K.
Shettahalli in Mandya district. At least 20 Dalits including women were injured
in the attacked launched by members of dominant Vokkaliga community. The upper
caste Hindus attacked the Dalits after a few Dalit youths swam in the
Lokapavani River. Leaders of both the communities tried to resolve the
differences at a meeting. However, more than 20 armed men belonging to
Vokkaliga community attacked the Dalits within minutes of the completion of
meeting.

According
to the 2006 Annual Report of the NCRB, a total of 6,084 cases of violence
against women were reported in 2006. Of these, 400 were rape cases, 328
kidnapping and abduction cases, 244 dowry death cases, 786 cases under Immoral
Trafficking (Prevention) Act of 1956, among others.

Crimes
against women were committed by the police. The NHRC registered one case of
custodial rape in Karnataka during 1 April 2006 – 31 March 2007.

In October
2007, the SHRC intervened after an undertrial prisoner Asha (name changed),
lodged at the Central prison at Parapanna Agrahara, alleged that she was raped by police constable CC Basavaraj of
Koramangal police station while in judicial custody. The victim along with her
husband were illegally detained at the Koramangala police station for almost a
week and tortured by the police.

The NCRB
recorded 276 cases of crime against children in Karnataka during 2006. These
included 54 cases of murder, 84 cases of rape 62 cases of kidnapping and
abduction, 6 cases under the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1978.

Child labour remained a problem. In
2003, the State government of Karnataka had claimed to have put in place an
action plan that would end child labour in the state in the next four years
i.e. by 2007. In 2002, it had conducted a survey and identified 7,112 children
employed in hazardous jobs and 32,118 in non-hazardous jobs. But a study
conducted in 2006 by the Institute for Social and Economic Change for the
International Labour Organisation’s “Karnataka Child Labour Project” found that
there were nearly 60,000 child
labourers (age group 4-14 years) in Bidar and Chamarajanagar districts alone. The study showed that 34 per cent of child labourers in Bidar and 30 per cent
of child labourers in Chamarajanagar worked between 5 and 8 hours every day.
Around 40 per cent of the child labourers in both districts were employed in
hazardous jobs.

In July
2007, the National Human Rights Commission issued notice to the Karnataka
government on the large number of out-of-school children. According to the Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan, at least 80,863 children were out of school in Karnataka of whom at
least 60,516 (age group 7-14) were drop-outs while 20,347 had never been to
school.

Juvenile justice remained deplorable.
Juveniles were kept in the Observation Home from seven months to more than one
year without being chargesheeted. There were over 70 per cent of the children
in the Observation Home in Madivala who had long crossed the remand limit of
six months under the Juvenile Justice Act Rule. Under the JJ Act Rule, the
enquiry against a child apprehended by police for an offence should be
completed within six months. In March 2007,
NHRC issued notice to Karnataka government on the issue.

Prison conditions remained deplorable.
According to NHRC, 56 cases of deaths in judicial custody were registered in
Karnataka during 1 April 2006 – 31 March 2007.

Karnataka has 98 jails with sanctioned
capacity for 11,799 prisoners. But as of 15th February 2007, there
were a total of 12,732 prisoners, including 480 females. Majority of them
(8,575) were under-trial prisoners.

In
addition, there were also 31 children below the age of six years, including 15
girls, living in the jails along with their mothers. There is no separate jail
for female prisoners in Karnataka. They are kept in separate enclosures in the
jails guarded by female staff.

From 2002-03 to 2006-07, the State
government was allotted Rs.53.90 crore (inclusive of Central and State share of
allocation) for modernizing prisons but the state government spent only
Rs.44.19 crore as of 31 December 2006. Out of the total allocation of Rs.53.90
crore during 2002-03 to 2006-07, 21.51 crore was for construction of new
prisons, 16.32 crore for expansion and renovation of existing prisons, 0.91
crore for improvement of sanitation and water supply, and 15.16 crore for
construction of staff quarters.

In 2007, several prisoners died, some
of them due to alleged denial of medical care.

On 9 February 2007, an under-trial prisoner
identified as Mahadeve Gowda of Berambadi in Gundlupet taluk allegedly died as
he could not get sufficient medical treatment at the sub-jail in Nanjangud in
Mysore district.

On 1 July
2007, under-trial prisoner, Tippeswamy, resident of Pavagada taluk of Tumkur
district, died under circumstances of concern in the Chitradurga district jail.
According to jail authorities, he died of injuries after he was allegedly
attacked by members of the Korangu gang inside the jail.

On 17 December 2007, an under-trial
prisoner identified as Krishna Naik (30) allegedly died of torture in the K.R.
Nagar Sub-Jail in Mysore. On 10 December 2007, the deceased was arrested in a
forest related case and detained at K.R. Nagar Sub-Jail.

The jails in the state did not have
proper facilities to allow prisoners to meet and discuss legal matters with
their lawyers. In October 2007, the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission
directed the Director-General of Police (Prisons) of Karnataka “to provide a
suitable and conducive place where advocates and other visitors meet the
prisoners” following a complaint that about 35 to 40 under-trial prisoners meet
their advocates in a small room and the time allowed for meeting was not
sufficient to facilitate legal access.

As many as 20,093 farmers committed
suicide in Karnataka during 1997-2005 as a result of crop failures. In February
2007, the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, a farmers’ association, alleged that
over 12,000 farmers had committed suicide in the state in the last three years.

On 29 September 2006, the Union
Cabinet approved a Rs.16,978.69-crore rehabilitation package for farmers in 31
districts of Andhra Pradesh (16 districts), Karnataka (6 districts), Kerala (3
districts) and Maharashtra (6 districts of Vidarbha region). The package
comprised loan rescheduling and interest waiver, and specific schemes for
watershed development, seed replacement, horticulture and extension services,
and for subsidiary income through livestock, dairying and fisheries. Under the
package which would be implemented in a period of three years, Karnataka’s
share was Rs. 2,689.64 crore which included an interest waiver of Rs. 209.81
crore.

Under Special Livestock Package, Rs
16.05 crore was sanctioned to Karnataka by the Centre during 2006-07 for the
farmers. But as of 8 June 2007, no funds had been utilised by the state
government. This has been certified by Karnataka’s Animal Husbandry and
Veterinary Services Commissioner on 8 June 2007. The relief operations in the
state were hampered by political considerations. Despite clear notification
from the Central government that Karnataka Livestock Development Agency would
be the implementing agency of relief to farmers, the state cabinet of Karnataka
in January 2007 handed over relief implementation to the Karnataka Milk
Federation (KMF) whose chairman was Energy Minister H D Revanna, brother of
then Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.

On 26 December 2007, a fact finding
team comprising of Peoples Union for Civil Liberties, P.D.F., Agricultural
Labours Association, Samata Vedike, Revolutionary Youth Association and
Pedestrian Pictures conducted an on-the-spot investigation into the suicide of
two farmers - Manjunath and Siddaraju of Hosapura village in Mysore district
and Harave village of Chamaraj Nagar district of Karnataka respectively. The
two farmers had taken loans from ICICI Bank (a private bank) to buy a tractor.
The team observed that “Capital has
become scarce in rural economy. Farmers, who are already in a debt trap,
courtesy private money lending, are hankering for loans from Banks and other
government institutions. In this situation the Banks, especially private one,
are resorting violent methods to recover dues from the farmers which has driven
the farmers to suicides. Globalization policies have forced the farmers to
approach private Banks for finance, as Nationalised banks and Co operative
banks are shirking from their responsibilities in implementing welfare schemes.”

The police killed innocent civilians
in the name of anti-Naxalite operations. On 10 July 2007, five tribals were
killed by police in an alleged encounter near Menisinahadya in Koppa taluk of
Chikmagalur district. The police claimed that the deceased were “Naxalites”.

The Naxalites executed alleged police
informers. On 3 June 2007, the Naxalites shot dead Venkatesh, a shopkeeper, in
front of his wife and son at Gandaghatti village near Sringeri in Chikmagalur
district for =being a “police informer”.

Naxalites destroyed public property.
On 1 July 2007, alleged Naxalites burned down a Karnataka State Transport bus
after forcing the passengers, driver and the conductor to get down at Hosagadde
in Shimoga district.